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5 best alarm clocks

On Sunday, as you lie asleep in your bed, the government will rob you of an hour’s sleep. But don’t let the onset of British Summer Time make you late

26 March 2010/5:00GMT

On Sunday, as you lie asleep in your bed, the government will rob you of an hour’s sleep. But don’t let the onset of British Summer Time make you late for work – invest in one of these ace alarms.

Woodstation, £90

If you were a tree, you’d live for hundreds of years and wouldn’t mind losing an hour’s sleep. Have the last laugh by having one made into this wooden alarm block. It even has weather so your arboreal foe can, ahem, pine for his outdoors, er, roots. We’re here all week.

Pure Chronos CD Series II DAB, £100

Doing what it says on the label is normally reserved for simple things. Quick drying wood seal, for example. Pure has taken the specification for its CD-playing, DAB-receiving alarm clock and shoved it all into the name, saving us the bother of explaining everything but why it’s triangular. Which we can’t.

Lumie Bodyclock Elite 300, £150

Not only does Lumie’s ‘alarm’ clock wake you with a soothing simulation of dawn sounds and brightening light, it also helps to induce better sleeps with a ‘sunset’ function. We’re not sure how much a pair of curtains costs these days, but surely £150 would cover it?

Sleeptracker Watch, £135

Woke up feeling groggy? Maybe your alarm went off during the wrong part of your sleep cycle. Or maybe you’re just not a morning person. If it’s the former, Sleeptracker will sense when you’re dozing lightly and rouse you at the optimum moment. If it’s the latter, you’ll ignore it and go back to sleep.

Philips AJ3231, £20

Apple doesn’t make radio alarm clocks, but if it did, they’d probably look a bit like this (and cost a lot more). There are a plethora of apps and docks for iPhones and iPods which do more, but none of them show you your freshly woken face first thing. And if that doesn’t get you out of bed, nothing will.

Either we're feeling generous, or we omitted a humdinger of a bedside tocker on our first pass. So, as a special Friday bonus, we're adding a sixth clock at the eleventh hour: Bang & Olufsen's BeoTime. If you've got a spare 300 notes this close to pay day, go nuts. If you haven't, you can join us in admiring those flutey good looks. Dream on...